The Covenant Kids
by basket-of-posies
Summary: Pre-slash. The adventures of Caleb, Tyler, Pogue, and Reid before they were the boys we know and love today. Inspired by the Kids chapter in 'Prompts'.
1. PT Pogue's Hair

-1_This is something new I'm trying out, inspired by the Kids chapter in 'Prompts'. If people like it, I'll write more… if they don't, I'll still write more xD_

**Pogue's Hair **

The doorbell rang and a 12 year old Tyler ran down the stairs from his room to the front door, only to be blocked by his dad, who got there first.

"_Dad!_ I wanted to answer it! It's Pogue! And he's been gone _forever_!" Tyler pouted, which made his dad chuckle and pet his hair.

"I beat you to it, sorry, son," Mr. Sims ruffled his son's hair and opened the door. Of course, it was Mr. Parry with his son… or at least Tyler thought it was Pogue.

"Who is that, dad?" Tyler asked softly from behind his father.

The boy standing in the doorway couldn't have been Pogue. Pogue always had a buzz-cut, he couldn't stand hair at the nape of his neck at all, but this boy… this boy had long hair that was past his ears and resting on his neck and it was wavy and nothing like how Pogue's hair should be.

"It's me, Tyler!" Pogue laughed, "Pogue, remember me? I wasn't gone _that_ long."

Both of the Parry's were invited in and the adults left their sons in the front hallway, with, of course, a warning from Mr. Parry for Pogue to behave and not break anything.

"What's that stuff on your head?" Tyler asked, making a face.

"Hair, stupid," Pogue rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, "I let it grow. You like it?"

"It's… different," Tyler murmured, not sure if he liked it or not yet.

"Whatever, let's go play."

The day passed and, just like always, Pogue was allowed to spend the night.

Both boys were in pajamas and laying on Tyler's bed; Pogue had borrowed Tyler's Batman pajamas because at this age, both boys were still the same size.

They had been sent to bed almost an hour ago but they were 'too old' for bedtimes so they stayed up, even though they were both yawning by now.

Tyler was eyeing Pogue's hair through his sleep heavy eyes. He wanted to touch it for some reason, so he did without a second thought. His fingers tangled into Pogue's hair and ran through it. "I.. think I like it."

"I knew you'd get used to it," Pogue chuckled and tried to nuzzle his head into Tyler's hand. The feeling of him playing with his hair was making him drowsy but it felt nice and he didn't want it to stop. He'd never cut his hair again if Tyler kept playing with it like this.


	2. Reid Kite

-1A three year old Reid was running around his living room, holding onto the string of a kite that was refusing to fly no matter how fast his little legs went.

He kept trying and trying and soon, he was out of breath and sitting on the floor, the kite tangled around him. Poor baby Garwin was frustrated with his stupid toy. He wanted to cry and kick and scream, but no, he wasn't giving up just yet.

The blonde baby stood up, determined to make this stupid thing _fly_. What he didn't realize was that the string was tangled around his legs so as soon as he started running, he fell and burned his knees on the carpet, which caused him to start wailing… and wailing _loud_.

Mr. Garwin came rushing in and found Reid pitifully trying to get up, but unable to due to the kite tangled around him, all the while, still crying his little heart out.

"What happened, huh, buddy?" He asked with a gentle laugh as he kneeled down in front of Reid and helped him get out of that tangled mess.

"I… I… I was runnin' and I… I was tryin' to get this _stupid_ thing to fly and it wouldn't fly and.. and.. and then, and then, I fell! And it hurt and I can't get this _stupid kite thing_ to fly! Make it fly, daddy! Make it fly!" Reid was closing and opening his fists up at his dad, his way of telling him that he what he really wanted was to be picked up. Mr. Garwin smiled and picked up his son in one arm, gathering the 'stupid kite thing' in the other.

"You can't fly a kite inside, Reid," He chuckled, rocking Reid a bit to sooth him, "I'll make you a promise, if you stop crying, I'll take you outside and we'll try to fly it together, okay?"

"Okay, daddy," Reid murmured and rubbed at his eyes with his little fists. He rested his head on his father's shoulder, his small hands holding onto his dad's shoulders. "…why do you have to be outside?"

"Because you need wind to make the kite fly," Mr. Garwin explained as he carried his son out to the backyard.

"But there's no wind out here, daddy," Reid whimpered, picking his head up to look at his dad with tear-filled eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure there's wind just for you."

Reid smiled and put his head back down, wrapping his arms around his dad's neck in a hug, "Thank you, daddy, I love you."

"I love you, too," Mr. Garwin smiled sadly, his son's affection making him feel a little less guilty when his eyes flashed black and the winds picked up.


	3. All Playpen

-1A 7 month old Reid Garwin was put down in to a playpen where a 9 month old Caleb sat rolling a ball back and forth with a 8 month old Pogue, and a 6 month old Tyler lay sleeping.

He squirmed his way over to the two boys playing and sat himself up as best as he could. Caleb smiled his cute baby smile and let out a happy sound; he rolled the ball the over to Reid, who looked at it for a second before picking it up and chucking it at Pogue's head.

Pogue blinked and watched as the ball fell down in front of him. He just shrugged and rolled it to Caleb, who rolled it back to Reid, who threw it at Caleb this time.

Caleb's reaction wasn't any different; the ball made his pacifier fall though, so he just picked it back up and, after a couple of tries, got it back in his mouth.

Both older boys learned their lesson though and didn't pass the ball to Reid again.

Reid got bored quickly and marine crawled his way over to the sleeping baby Tyler. He pulled himself up to sit again and stared down at Tyler, trying to figure out what to do now.

After careful thinking, he pulled Tyler's pacifier out. Tyler kept sucking on air for a bit then noticed something was off and blinked his eyes open. He started letting out little whimpers and looking around for his pacifier, which was when Reid stuck it back in his mouth, efficiently quieting Tyler back down.

The younger boy started to fall asleep again and Reid didn't want that so he held onto Tyler's arm and shook it, making the other baby look up at him with wide eyes. Reid grinned, now he had a buddy.

He pulled Tyler up to sit but the other boy just fell over onto his stomach and laughed.

Reid liked this kid already.


	4. CP Tooth

-1It was 4:00 and Caleb was sitting quietly at his kitchen table. He was taking his homework out of his book bag and taking everything else he needed out. Pogue would be coming over soon and he had to have all his homework done before he could play with his best friend; his mom had made him promise.

He wrote his name in his big, sloppy kindergarten handwriting on his homework and started working right away. He had something important to tell Pogue and he wasn't going to let homework keep him back from that.

Mr. Danvers walked into the kitchen a minute and stood behind his son to see what he was so focused on. "Homework? What are you working on, Caleb?"

"Number stuff, shh, dad, I have to finish this," Caleb shooed his dad away. "Pogue's comin' over and mommy won't let me play with him til I'm done."

"Want me to help you then?"

Caleb bit his lip and thought about it a minute before shaking his head, "No, thank you, I can do it."

"That's my boy," Mr. Danvers chuckled and patted his son's back before he left him to his work.

The homework seemed to be take forever for Caleb but he finished it and was just packing his stuff away when Pogue came running in, yelling, "Caleb! Caleb!"

"Pogue!" Caleb jumped off his seat and the two ran into each other, hugging as they fell to the floor and laughed.

"Caleb, Pogue, get off that floor!" Mrs. Danvers helped both boys up, "Did you finish your homework, Caleb?"

"Yes, mommy, can I play with Pogue now?"

"Go on," She ushered the boys out of the kitchen.

Caleb dragged Pogue up to his room, jumping onto his bed when he got there. "Guess what!" He started jumping up and down on the bed.

"What?" Pogue joined him in the jumping.

"My tooth is loose!"

"Really? Lemme see!" Pogue pushed Caleb down and sat down with him.

"Yeah!" Caleb wiggled his tooth in Pogue's face. "Isn't that cool?"

"Too cool!" He tackled Caleb on the bed, "No fair, I want one too!"

"Too bad, I got it first!" Caleb laughed and hit Pogue with one of the pillows around him.

Pogue laughed and hit him back and soon a pillow fight broke out… and it didn't end until they tumbled down onto the floor and caused Caleb's marble collection to go sliding everywhere,. Their falling to the floor and the noise of the marbles earned them a, "CALEB AND POGUE, YOU STOP THAT RUCKUS RIGHT NOW!" and sent the boys into a giggle fit.


	5. Pogue Makeup

-1Seven year old Pogue climbed his way up onto his mother's vanity. He sat on his knees on the seat and looked at all the colorful things before him.

With a quick glance around to make sure he was alone, Pogue took a red lipstick and wrote his name on the mirror in front of him. He even put a heart around it to make sure his mom knew he loved her.

After he finished, he stared down at the lipstick in his hand, shrugging as he put it to his lips and smeared it all over his mouth. It made him make a face when he tasted it on his lips. "_Gross_," he threw it down onto the white carpet beneath him.

He looked around for something else to play with and grabbed the blue eye-shadow. "Ohh," he opened it and ran all his fingers through it before wiping his fingers off around his eyes.

He thought he was looking pretty cool right now.

The eye-shadow found its way onto the floor next to lipstick and Pogue found something else to play with: powder.

He powdered his face until he was sneezing and almost pure white, besides the bright red and blue from the other make up.

"Egh," he threw that to the floor too. "This stuff isn't that great."

Then he found the moose.

"This is cool!" He grinned as he covered his hand in foam, then squished both his hands together and put them into his hair, styling it into a Mohawk.

"Pogue! Pogue, honey, where are you? Pogo!" Mrs. Parry came into her room and stopped dead in her tracks. She was halfway between yelling at Pogue for making such a mess and laughing at how cute he was. Either way, she was getting a picture of this. "Honey, get the camera, quick!"

"Mommy! How do I look?" Pogue ran up to his mom and held on to her hand, smiling proudly.

"You look… wonderful, dear," She chuckled and leaned down to Pogue's level, "But you know you aren't allowed into mommy and daddy's room without permission, right?"

"Yes, mommy, I'm sorry."

"And you won't do it again?"

"No, mommy, I won't," Pogue shook his head.

"What did you want that cam-- oh," Mr. Parry stopped in the doorway. "He looks just like you do right after you put on your makeup in the morning, sweetie."

He earned a hard stare for that.

"Daddy! Are you gunna take a picture of me?" Pogue asked, eyeing the camera with excitement.

"Oh, of course," Mr. Parry chuckled, "Smile, Pogo."

Pogue put on his best grin and posed like a superhero, causing Mr. Parry to laugh as he snapped the picture.

"You're never going to forget about this, Pogo, my boy."

"Alright!"

Mr. Parry doubted his son would be saying that 10 years from now.


	6. Pogue Trouble

-1Pogue had been getting in trouble since the day he was born--literally; when he was in the nursery with the other newborns, whenever he would cry, he would kick and punch as well, and if his little fists had been any stronger, the nurse would have had two black eyes and a broken nose.

For the first 12 months of his life, he was okay… because he couldn't walk. He tended to grab onto things, though, which usually ending up with things falling because he refused to let go, or people yelping in pain when he wouldn't let go of their hair, or one of the other sons getting dragged along because Pogue didn't want to let their hand go.

Okay, so he wasn't an _angel_ exactly… but that was nothing compared to when he learned to walk.

At first, he would wobble around then fall, usually grabbing onto something and making it fall.

Then he could take a couple of steps before tumbling over--that turned out to be his favorite way of getting around. He would walk then roll, walk then roll, walk then roll, always earning some kind of bruises along the way and usually tripping people, by accident of course.

When Pogue learned how to climb though, Mr. Parry swore he would no longer have an heir.

The boy would climb onto the top of couches then roll down onto the floor; he'd climb onto tables and jump off; once he had even climbed on top of Caleb and made him fall, then just sat there with a confused Caleb under him.

What topped it off, though, was when Pogue learned to climb stairs. Going up, he was fine, but for some reason, as he went down, he tended to slide instead of calmly going down.

The first time they saw Pogue slide down, Mr. and Mrs. Parry almost had simultaneous heart attacks.

They were sure their son wouldn't live to see kindergarten.


	7. All Dads

-1The four Sons of Ipswich were sitting on Caleb's porch stairs, playing with trucks and cars. Their mothers were on the porch behind them, watching as their sons played. The boys were anxiously waiting for their fathers to return from… something; their mothers had told them several times what their dads were doing, but the boys didn't care about that, they just wanted to see their daddies again.

So when a black car pulled up in front of the house and the other generation of Sons stepped out, all 4 boys were running to greet their fathers, which was cute, but funny when they all had to change paths and ended up bumping into each other and falling over.

That didn't deter them though, they got right back up and ran to their respective fathers, who wore grins as they picked their sons up.

Tyler promptly pulled out a drawing from his overalls' pocket and started explaining what it was to his dad.

Caleb was grabbing onto his father's tie and telling him all about how he got to wear one just like him at church on Sunday.

Pogue was demonstrating this new move he had learned in karate and nearly gave his dad a black eye.

Reid… Reid was clinging onto his dad and murmuring that he missed him, which his father didn't mind, but he was worried about what had his rambunctious rugrat so quiet.

Soon Pogue ran out of moves to show his dad and ran off to practice all those moves… on a tree. Caleb ran out of things to tell his dad and Tyler finally finished explaining his picture; they ran off together to play in the sandbox. Reid refused to let go of his father, though, even when his mother petted his hair and leaned in to give his father a kiss hello, Reid didn't want to let go.

"What's going on with him?" Mr. Garwin asked softly, swaying back and forth soothingly.

"Poor baby had a nightmare last night," Mrs. Garwin explained, petting her son's hair and kissing it, "But Daddy's here, so everything's okay now, right Reid?"

Reid nodded into his dad's neck and held on even tighter.

"That's my superstar," She smiled and rubbed his back. "Do you want to head home?"

Reid just shrugged and his parents took that as a yes. They said their goodbyes and Mr. Garwin carried Reid to his car. He stopped, though, when he heard an "Eid! Eid!" from behind him and found Tyler running towards them when he turned around.

"Eid, you're not gunna play?" Tyler asked, looking up at Reid, who shook his head in response. "Okay! Bye, Eid! I'll miss you!"

Reid squirmed around and leaned down to hug Tyler. "I'll play tomorrow, Tyty," he promised.

"Okay," Tyler hugged back for a second and with a "Bye Eid!", he ran off to play with the other boys

Reid went back to clinging to his dad again; he never wanted him to leave again.


	8. Tyler Curious

-1Tyler was always the most well behaved out of the four Sons. He was the good boy, even better than Caleb, who tended to get rowdy whenever Pogue or Reid egged him on. Tyler, though, was calm and quiet. He could be left alone and even at the young age of 8, his parents would trust him.

Most of the time.

_This_ wasn't one of those times.

As quiet and behaved Tyler was, he was also curious… about everything, which was what made him pull up a chair to the counter where his mom was working on making cookie dough.

"Do you want to help, Tyty?"

"Uh uh," Tyler shook his head; he just wanted to watch for now.

"Reid's coming over soon, are you excited?"

"Yeah! We're gunna play Super Mario!" Tyler grinned; the doorbell rang and Tyler clapped, "Go mommy! I'll watch this stuff for you."

"Thank you, baby boy," Mrs. Sims ruffled her son's hair and left to answer the door.

That was when Tyler got curious.

He stuck his hands into the bag of flour in front of him, laughing when they came out white and powdery. Then he reached over to check out some eggs and ended knocking the flour onto the floor. He looked down at the mess and shrugged, "Oops."

Then he promptly tried to eat an egg, only to find he couldn't, so he let it fall to the floor, where it split and the yolk went all over the flour.

"Ohh, chocolate," Tyler grinned and grabbed a stick of chocolate. He bit into it and made a face, it was too hard and bitter; it was baker's chocolate. "Gross," he threw the chocolate onto the floor as well and reached for the milk. He opened it and tilted so he could get a sip, but ended up spilling the entire thing down his shirt instead, which is how his mother, Mrs. Garwin, and Reid found him.

"TYLER JONATHAN SIMS! What in ALL EARTH did you do?!"

"Wow! Tyler got in _trouble_!"


	9. Caleb Nightmare

-1Caleb was always an independent child, he had been since before he even learned to walk. As soon as he could crawl or squirm his way around, he never wanted to be picked up. He would rather do things himself and his parents always let him because the smile that lit up his face after he accomplished whatever he was trying to do always made them smile too.

He was still a child though, and just like all children, he had nightmares sometimes. Usually he would wake up crying and one of his parents would come to his aide. Just a little bit of cuddling and soothing words and Caleb would be alright for the rest of the night.

Tonight was different, though. Caleb woke up from a nightmare and sat up in his bed, whimpering because he was used to one of his parents coming by now. Then he realized he wasn't crying and he wasn't about to make himself do that, but he didn't know what to do.

He laid his head back down on his pillow and pulled the comforter tight around his shoulders. "It was just a dream, it was just a dream," he murmured to himself, closing his eyes as he tried to fall back asleep.

The wind blew and made a tree branch scratch against his window; Caleb was out of bed and running to his parents room in 2 seconds flat.

When he got to their door, he paused and thought about what he was doing. Maybe he could just go back to his room… one look down that long dark hallway and Caleb was pushing open the door and going in.

"Mommy? Daddy?" He asked softly, tiptoeing his was over to their bed after he closed the door. His quiet voice didn't make his parents stir unfortunately.

Caleb whimpered and climbed onto their bed; he made his way over his mother and settled down between the two of them, which caused his father to shift around.

"Daddy?" Caleb asked hopefully and tugged on his dad's sleeve.

"Caleb? What are you doing in here?" His father asked in a tired voice, blinking his eyes open to see his son's scared eyes.

"I had a bad dream," Caleb murmured, snuggling closer into the safety and warmth of his father. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Of course," Mr. Danvers pulled his son in closer, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Uh uh," Caleb shook his head and yawned, "I just wanna sleep. G'night, daddy."

"Goodnight," Mr. Danvers kissed his son's forehead as he drifted off to sleep in his arms.


	10. RT Play

-1Tyler quietly played with his Transformer as his mother pushed his stroller along. He was a pretty happy 2 year old now; he had his pacifier in his mouth, a toy in his hand, and a bottle of juice right next to him just in case.

Life couldn't get better.

Then he looked up and saw the playground come into view; okay, life just got a little better.

And then he saw Reid coming from the opposite direction in his stroller.

Tyler let out a happy sound and clapped his hands together, looking up to his mom to show her how happy he was. "Eid!" He pointed over to Mrs. Garwin and her son, who was struggling to get out of his stroller.

"That's right, Tyty," Mrs. Sims smiled and petted her son's unruly hair down.

"Tyty!"

Tyler turned around to see Reid running toward him. He laughed and tried to get out of his stroller, only to be pulled back by the strap around his waist.

"Nn," he pulled at the thing but just couldn't get it off.

Reid came to the rescue and undid it for him. "Hi Tyty!"

"Eid!" Tyler practically jumped out of his stroller and hugged Reid.

"Reid! I told you to wait for me!" Mrs. Garwin sighed as she came over.

Reid ignored his mother and held onto Tyler's hand, pulling him to the playground.

"Be safe, Tyty!"

"Okay, mommy!" Tyler called back as he ran with Reid, who was leading them onto the play gym. They made it to the top and stood in front of the biggest slide there.

"Go!" Reid pointed at the slide, "Go Tyty, go!"

"Nuh uh," Tyler shook his head, "You go!"

"You go!"

"No!"

Reid grabbed Tyler's pacifier out of his mouth which made him pout and glare. "Go!"

Tyler took Reid's pacifier in retaliation, "You go!"

Reid glared at him and pushed Tyler, then Tyler pushed back, and they both kept pushing each other, until one of them lost their balance, grabbed onto the other one, and then both of them were sliding down.

Reid was sliding down backwards while Tyler was on his back with one of his legs in the air. It was sort of fun. Then they landed and Reid squished Tyler.

"Ow, Eid!" Tyler kicked his legs and pounded his fists on the ground. "Off!"

Reid rolled off of Tyler and stayed next to him, holding onto both their pacifiers. "Look Tyty."

"Mine!" Tyler reached over to grab his pacifier but Reid moved it away. "Eid!"

Reid laughed and got up, helping Tyler up as well. "Get it," he challenged and ran away.

"_Eid!_" Tyler ran after him.

Even at this age, Tyler was wondering why he had been so happy to see Reid.


	11. CT Nap

-1"Hi Tyty," Caleb grinned, squirming out of his mother's arms so he could sit down next to Tyler on the floor.

"Caleb!" Tyler wrapped his arms around the other 3 year old, "Wacha doin' here?"

"Caleb's going to sleep over tonight, is that alright with you, Tyler?" Mrs. Danvers asked with a smile, kneeling down to be on eye level with the boys.

"Yeah!" Tyler nodded happily, his eyes lighting up at the thought. He liked Caleb the most out of all his friends; Reid was funny but sometimes he got mean and Pogue knew all the cool games but he liked to fight a lot. Caleb, though, he was calm and playful, the perfect companion for Tyler.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Caleb. It was nice seeing you, Tyler," Mrs. Danvers kissed her son's forehead and ruffled Tyler's hair before leaving, both boys waving goodbye after her.

"Wacha doing, Tyty?" Caleb asked, shifting to sit on his knees as he looked at the _thing_ in front of Tyler.

"A puh… puh… puhz… puzzle!"

"My daddy likes to do those. Can I help?"

"Okay."

The puzzle was only a 10 piece one but it took the boys nearly an hour on it because it took them half an hour to realize Caleb was sitting on one of the pieces.

They had just put in the last piece when Mrs. Sims walked in.

"Look, mommy!" Tyler wrapped his hands his mom's hand and pulled her down so she could see that they finished the puzzle.

"Good job, Tyler! Did Caleb help you?"

Tyler nodded his head in response and Caleb smiled.

"Good job both of you! I bet your brains are tired from all that thinking, huh?"

Tyler and Caleb looked at each other then back at Mrs. Sims, shaking their heads as an answer.

"You sure you don't want to take a little nap? Just a little one? If you do, I'll give you another puzzle to work on."

Caleb and Tyler looked at each other again and nodded at each other before nodding to Mrs. Sims, who smiled and held her hands out as she stood. Tyler took one hand and Caleb, the other, and were led up to Tyler's room.

"And before your puzzle, do you want to have some lunch?"

"Yeah," Both boys answered, looking up at Mrs. Sims with smiles and nods.

"What do you want for lunch, then?"

"Can I have… peanut butter and jelly?" Caleb asked, "With milk?"

"Me too! Me too!"

"Alright, alright," Mrs. Sims chuckled and picked both boys up to set them on Tyler's bed. She took Caleb's sneakers off before tucking both of the boys in. "Call if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay, mommy," Tyler murmured, shifting around to get comfortable on the bed.

"Yes, Mrs. Sims," Caleb nodded, settling in next to Tyler.

Mrs. Sims smiled and kissed their foreheads before leaving the room.

"Caleb?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't wanna sleep."

"Me neither."

They climbed out of bed and went over to play with the toys in Tyler's toy chest.

When Mrs. Sims came back an hour later, she found the boys cuddled together next to some trucks and toy soldiers on the floor. She shook her head and picked the boys up carefully, laying them on the bed and tucking them in again.

Lunch would have to wait until later.


	12. All Teething

-1Caleb, Pogue, Reid, and Tyler sat in the playpen that was put up in the Parrys' living room. Their mothers were out for the day and their fathers were in Mr. Parry's study, leaving the barely-eight-month-old babies alone.

Pogue and Reid kept trying to sit up by holding onto the sides of the playpen but anytime they let go, they would end up falling… usually onto each other. Then they would push and shove. Then they would just get up and try again.

Tyler sat with his blocks and watched them, laughing, squealing, and clapping each time they fell. He was in the process of building… something, but Reid and Pogue just kept distracting him.

Caleb sat next to Tyler but his attention wasn't on Pogue and Reid, it was on trying to find anything he could bite that would stop the pain in his mouth. He had tried a teddy bear's ear, one of Tyler's blocks, his pacifier, a bottle… he even tried chewing on his fingers, but nothing worked. That feeling in his mouth just wouldn't go away. He finally got so sick and tired of it that he started crying, all the while trying to chew on his fist.

Caleb's crying got the rest of the babies' attention; they just stared at him, not used to seeing him cry. Pogue was the first one to snap out of it and when he did, he started to cry… just because Caleb was crying. Then Tyler started to cry because he was a crier and the other two were crying so he wanted to cry too. Reid looked around confused for a moment before joining them because really, he couldn't _not_ join them.

All the wailing caused the older generation of Sons to come stampeding into the room, which startled the boys a bit. They stopped crying to see what happened then went right back to bawling their little hearts out.

"What's wrong with them?" Mr. Danvers asked, looking at his Brothers.

"I dunno, Will," Mr. Parry shook his head, "Everything's fine in here…"

"What are we supposed to do?" Mr. Garwin asked as he scratched his head.

"Pick them up?" Mr. Sims suggested. "Tyler usually stops when Lily picks him up."

"Yeah, yeah… good idea, Rich," Mr. Parry nodded and leaned down to pick up Pogue. The rest of the older Sons picked up their boys as well and soon all the crying had subsided, except for Caleb's small whimpers as he tried to bite on his fist.

"What's wrong with Caleb, Will?" Mr. Garwin asked as he swayed back and forth with Reid.

"I dunno, Rob." William Danvers was thoroughly confused as to what had his boy so fussy.

"Does that mean he's hungry or something?" Mr. Parry asked; his own heir was doing just fine now, he was climbing up to sit on his dad's shoulders, kicking, and pulling at his dad's hair.

"Maybe," Will murmured and sat Caleb down on the couch as he dug through his baby bag for a bottle of formula, giving it to Caleb as soon as he found it. The younger Danvers just threw it to the ground because he had already tried a bottle and it didn't work. He started crying again and chewing at his fist; by now, his hand was covered in baby drool.

"Great idea, Jimmy," Mr. Garwin rolled his eyes.

"I don't hear _you_ coming up with anything, Robby," James retorted, glaring at his younger brother.

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not suggesting stupid things."

"Both of you be quiet. You're going to make the kids cry again," Mr. Sims scolded. His own son was currently snuggled up to his chest and sleeping; Tyler loved to sleep.

"He started it."

"No, you did."

"Prove it."

"_You_ prove it."

"Rich, do something about them before _I_ do," The eldest Son warned.

That had both James and Robert shutting up.

"Thank _you_," Mr. Danvers sighed and turned his attention back to his son. "C'mon, Caleb, what's going on, huh?" He asked in that soft tone he saved only for the children. He tried to move Caleb's fist away only to have Caleb clench his jaw around one of his fingers.

"…is he teething?" Robert asked, standing next to James only because Reid and Pogue were 'playing' with each other (more like they were fighting their fathers' fight).

"Oh _yeah_, Evelyn said something about that," Mr. Danvers smacked his forehead and picked Caleb up, letting him chew on his finger still.

That had Mr. Garwin giving Mr. Parry a very smug look.

"…but I didn't bring his teething ring."

"I know something else that works," James said with a smug look back at the older Garwin. He left to get what his great idea was and ended up having to take Robert with him because Pogue was grabbing onto Reid.

"A WAFFLE?!"

Mr. Garwin's exclamation even had Tyler waking up and looking up to see what was going on.

"WILL! Jimmy wants to stuff a frozen waffle in your son's mouth!" Robert came barging back in with Mr. Parry dragging behind him due to the grip their sons had on each others' hands.

"It _works_, trust me. I saw it on Roseanne."

Well, that got a disapproving look from the other Sons. Mr. Parry just rolled his eyes and stuck Pogue in Mr. Garwin's arms before approaching Caleb.

"Hey, buddy, got a problem, huh?" He asked softly as he moved William's hand away and put the waffle in its place.

Caleb, surprisingly, held onto the waffle and chewed on it, content with his new teething toy.

The older Sons all let out a sigh and put their sons back in the playpen.

All was good again.


	13. All Confusion

-1At the ages of 15 months, Caleb and Tyler could pass for twins; they had the same round face, the same messy dark hair, the same chubby baby body, the same… everything. The only real difference between them was that Caleb had brown eyes and Tyler had blue eyes.

Things could get a little confusing, of course, but a mother could always pick her child out of the rest; fathers… not so much.

"Cabe! Cabe!" Tyler chuckled as he toppled onto Reid

"Tyty!" Caleb squealed and jumped up to lay on Tyler.

Reid grunted under Tyler and tried to push him off but failed, so he just glared and crossed his little arms over his chest.

"You guys are supposed to be napping," Mr. Parry chuckled as he set his son down on the bed, but Pogue was just as energetic as the rest of the sons and jumped onto the pile that was forming on Reid.

"Boys, boys, you're squishing Reid," Mr. Parry said as he pried each of the boys off and set them down on the pillows, which made Reid let out a sigh of relief. "You guys wanna lay your heads down, hm?"

All four of the boys just squealed and started jumping on the bed; like they really wanted to _nap_, psh.

"_Boys_," Mr. Parry scolded in a tone that had all the babies landing flat on their butts and staring wide-eyed at the adult in front of them. "That's better. It's nap time, do you understand?"

"No nap," Reid glared and shook his head, "No nap! No nap! No nap!"

"Just like his father," Mr. Parry muttered under his breath.

"Yeah!" Pogue agreed with his friend and crossed his arms over his chest.

Tyler, on the other hand, was getting comfortable under a blanket and snuggling into a pillow.

Traitor.

Caleb couldn't decided what to do; he started to whimper with his indecision until he finally went with Tyler and snuggled up next to him.

"See, Pogue, Reid? Don't you want to join your friends?" Mr. Parry asked as he picked Pogue up and put him next to Tyler, then moved Reid to be next to Caleb.

"Mgh…" Reid looked at Pogue then down at his sleeping friends. "…nap," he mumbled reluctantly and put his head down.

"And you, Pogue?" Mr. Parry kneeled next to the bed and pulled his son down, tickling him a bit as he did so, "You ready for a nap?"

Pogue giggled and squirmed away from his dad to get under the blanket. "Nap, nap," he murmured then reached over with his little arms to pull his dad in for a kiss on the cheek; that made Mr. Parry laugh, even though his cheek was covered in baby drool now.

Mr. Parry tucked the boys in and sat down on the edge of the bed to wait for them all to fall asleep. Caleb and Tyler were already long gone and Reid was trailing after them, followed by Pogue. They were all sleeping like little angels in just minutes, which was when Mr. Parry smiled and left the room.

An hour later, Mr. Danvers and Mr. Sims came to pick up their sons, only to find that they were still sleeping. They carefully maneuvered around the other boys to get their sons out and left quietly with Caleb and Tyler still sleeping in their fathers' arms.

Tyler woke up when Mr. Danvers took him out of his car seat and handed him to his mother. He yawned widely and looked up at the woman holding him, confused to see Caleb's mommy and not his own.

"Hi there, Caleb, did you have a nice nap?" Mrs. Danvers asked with a smile as she brought Tyler into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"No Cabe," Tyler shook his head, "Tyty, no Cabe."

"You can see Tyler tomorrow, Caleb," She chuckled and smoothed down his hair, "Okay?"

Tyler kept shaking his head, "No Cabe, Tyty."

"Tomorrow, I promise."

"No Cabe! Tyty!"

Mrs. Danvers furrowed her eyebrows at her son's words, then she noticed something: Caleb didn't have blue eyes.

"WILLIAM!"

"Yes, Evelyn?" Mr. Danvers called from the top of the stairs.

"This isn't our son!"

"What are you talking about?" Mr. Danvers came into the living room with his tie undone and dress shirt half unbuttoned. "Of course it is, I know who my own son is."

"Caleb doesn't have blue eyes, Will."

"What are you talkin…"

One look at Tyler's eyes and Mr. Danvers flushed.

"Oops."


	14. Reid Bored

-1Reid was bored beyond compare; he didn't know what to do with himself. His mother was yapping away on the phone, his father was busy doing some kind of paperwork, his friends were all away with their families.

There was nothing to do.

At all.

His 12 year old body couldn't handle this boredom. If he didn't do something soon, he was going to explode.

"Don't slouch, honey, sit up straight," His mother scolded when she walked into the living room; the phone was still attached to her ear.

"Don't slouch, honey, sit up straight," Reid mimicked as he ignored the order.

"That's not very nice, Reid, where are your manners?"

"That's not very nice, Reid, where are your manners?"

"Reid! Stop it!"

"Reid! Stop it!"

"Reid Matthew Garwin, if you don't cut this out _right_ now, I'm going to get your father to deal with you."

"Reid Matthew Garwin, if you don't cu--"

"ROBERT!"

"I stopped!"

Mr. Garwin came into living room with some kind of document in his hand and his reading glasses on; he didn't seem too pleased to be disrupted and he let it show in his voice. "What's going on?"

"Reid can't seem to stop mimicking me."

"Tattle tale," Reid muttered as he glared at his mom. His father gave him a reproaching look. "What? I'm _bored_ and you guys don't have _time_ for me and no one's _home_ and I have nothing to do and I think I'm gunna explode soon!"

"Why don't you do your homework?"

"I did it already!"

That definitely showed his parents how bored their son was.

"Then why don't you play a video game?"

"I beat them all!"

"I just bought you one last week, Reid, you beat that already?"

"_Yes_."

"Do you want some money to get another one?"

"_No_, I'm sick and tired of playing video games. And I'm sick and tired of stupid board games. And stupid card games. And stupid homework. And _everything_. I'm **bored**, Dad, save me!"

By now, Reid was laying down on the couch and squirming because he was just so antsy and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Why don't you go grocery shopping with your mother?"

"That's a brilliant idea! You could even pick out some snacks that you want."

"Only _girls_ do _that_. I'm a _boy_, I don't _do_ grocery shopping, I just eat the stuff you buy."

"Then what do _you_ want to do?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be bored, stupid!"

"_Reid_."

"I'm sorry, Dad," Reid muttered, rolling his eyes. "But you gotta understand, Dad, I'm _dying_ here. I'm bored to _death_. Do you really want that? Your _heir_ dying… because he's bored? Huh, Dad, huh? Your _bloodline_ gone! Because you couldn't entertain me! That would go down like some amazing legend and some kinda moral thingy that people would tell their grandchildren."

Well, at least his father knew he gave him that talk… that didn't mean his son was starting to get his nerves right now.

"I see you got your mother's drama-queen gene."

"Robert!"

"It's true."

"I don't _care_ whose jeans I have! I'm wearing my own, that's all that matters. Now make me stop being _bored. _Do something cool, Dad!"

"_Reid_, you know better."

"What's the point of having that _amazing _Power if you can't even help your son out in his time of need?!"

"Reid, you're hardly in a time of need. You just feel like being annoying."

"No I don't! I'm _bored, _I can't help it! Oh my Goooooddddd," Reid groaned and turned onto his stomach so he could kick and hit the couch. "I'm so _bored_."

"..I think I have something for you to do."

"Really, what?" Reid asked as he jumped up and looked at his dad with wide, expecting eyes.

"C'mon," His father smirked and led his son to his study.

Two hours later, Reid was sleeping with his head on his father's desk, surrounded by paperwork everywhere.

Reid couldn't complain he was bored; his father finished his work; everyone was happy.


	15. Caleb Doctor

-1"But Mommy, I don't wanna go," Caleb shook his head and held onto his bedpost.

"It's just a check-up, Caleb, it's nothing big," His mother assured; she was sitting next to him on the bed and petting his hair to try to sooth him.

"Then I don't have to go if it's not important."

Mrs. Danvers chuckled and tried to pry Caleb off of the bedpost, "It's important, the doctor has to make sure you're healthy."

"I _am_ healthy," Caleb protested and tightened his grip. "I don't wanna go, Mommy, don't make me go, please don't make me go." He was giving his mom his best puppy dog eyes; he even made some tears gather in his eyes.

"Why don't you wanna go, Caleb? You don't want to see Dr. Sam? I'm sure he misses you."

"I don't _like_ going! I hate the doctor's," he shook his head and let the tears fall, "I don't wanna go."

"But you'll get a lollipop afterwards, don't you want a lollipop?"

"_No!_" He objected furiously and clung onto the bedpost with an even stronger grip.

Mrs. Danvers sighed and left Caleb alone to get his father. She didn't want to drag him kicking and screaming but that seemed to be the only way that she was going to get him there.

Caleb was a smart four year old, though; as soon as his mom was out of his room, he was running out the door and looking for a hiding place--he chose the linen closet next to the bathroom.

When Mrs. Danvers came back to Caleb's room with Mr. Danvers, she let out another sigh, this one more exasperated than the first.

"Maybe you shouldn't take him, Evelyn. He's scared."

"He needs to get that shot, Will. I've put it off as long as I could."

Mr. Danvers rubbed the back of his neck and sighed; he didn't like having to force Caleb to do anything. If he had it his way, his son would be full of happiness and smiles all the time. Of course, he would end up a little spoiled… okay, maybe his wife was right, this once.

"Then let's go find our boy… he couldn't have gone far."

"You search his room, I'll go look through other rooms," Mrs. Danvers directed before leaving the room to search for her MIA son.

By the time they found Caleb, he was napping on the floor of the closet, covered by a towel and using another towel as a pillow.

Mr. Danvers carefully maneuvered his son into his arms and carried him out to the car but as soon as he set him down in his car seat, Caleb was awake and clinging onto him and crying about how he didn't want to go and pleading with his father not to make him go.

"Sh, sh, sh, I'm here, I'll stay with you, okay?" Mr. Danvers sat in the backseat and settled Caleb on his lap. "Will it be better if I go with you, hm, Caleb?"

"Mhm," Caleb whimpered and nodded; he was currently clinging onto his father's shirt and soaking it with his tears.

"I'll stay back here, Evelyn, will you be okay driving?"

"Of course," Mrs. Danvers smiled and petted Caleb's hair. She gave him another small smile before closing the door and going to the front.

By the time they reached the doctor's office, Caleb was sucking on his thumb and sleeping in his father's arms. He stayed sleeping until the doctor took him into his arms.

When his eyes opened and he was met face to face with Dr. Sam, Caleb's cries got caught in his throat. He stared at him with wide eyes; fear and anxiousness took over and he was stuck shell shocked the entire exam… and then the nurse came in with a shot.

Caleb was running to his dad faster than he had ever gone before. He clung to his father's leg and hid behind it, all the while there were tears running down his cheeks and soft whimpers leaving his mouth.

"C'mon, Caleb, you're daddy's big boy, right?" His father asked with a smile as he picked his son up. "It's just a shot, it's okay."

"Uh uh," Caleb shook his head and tried to hide his arms between his father's chest and his own. "I don't want it."

"It's just a pinch, promise. I'll hold your hand if you want, okay? Just look away and squeeze my hand, Caleb."

Caleb let out a whimper and held out a shaky arm towards the doctor. He clenched his eyes shut and held onto his father's hand with a death grip.

When the doctor told him it was done, Caleb looked up with surprise. The nurse was holding out an array of bandages for him and asking him which one he wanted, but Caleb was too stunned, so his father picked it out for him: Rugrats.

"…that's it?" he asked his father softly and let the nurse put the chosen bandage on his arm.

"That's it," His father chuckled and kissed his son's forehead, "You did good, Caleb."

"Here you go, Caleb, a lollipop for being such a good boy."

Caleb took the lollipop and stared it; he was still amazed. He felt sort of cheated; he spent all that energy crying and this was _it_?

Life wasn't fair… but at least he got a lollipop out of it.


	16. Tyler Figuring it Out

-1Tyler loved to figure things out, he always had.

When he was just five years old, he was taking apart toy cars and bears that spoke and pens and anything he could get his hands on, just to see why they did what they did.

By the time he was eight, he was conquering thousand piece puzzles and helping his dad with car things; his mother would even call him instead of his father for help with fixing things in the kitchen sometimes.

At ten years of age, he was given a chemistry set. Unlike any other child his age, he didn't go around mixing chemicals to make them explode. Instead, he read everything detail in the manual that came with the set and followed it word by word. He helped his older cousin pass Chemistry that year.

On his eleventh birthday, Reid gave him a Rubik's cube and timed him to see how fast he could solve it. Tyler's first try didn't even take a minute.

When his thirteenth birthday came around, Tyler was dying of anticipation. He had been told so much of this Power that he would be receiving and all his brothers seemed to be so happy with it. He couldn't wait; ever since his father had first told him of the Power, Tyler wanted to feel it out, to figure it out.

At the exact time of his birth, Tyler was surrounded by his brothers and their fathers. He felt something flow through his veins and his senses opened up and his mind was racing everywhere and his heart raced and then… it was over.

He made his eyes shift to that dark ebony that accompanied the Power and tested the waters a bit. It was sort of fun to be able to just think of something and have it happen; his father seemed so proud and his brothers were so happy, but he just blinked away the black and looked at all of them.

"I don't get it."


	17. PC First Kiss

"Uh oh, Reid's wearing that stupid smirk of his again," Pogue muttered and rolled his eyes.

Caleb chuckled and shook his head, watching as Reid walked up the stairs to his house and pulled Tyler into a noogie before sitting down next to them on the porch.

"Jerk," Tyler grumbled and shoved Reid, who just kept smirking.

"Alright, what's up with you?" Pogue sighed.

"Guess what I just did, boys."

The other three just rolled their eyes and ignored Reid, instead choosing to start a conversation on the episode of The Simpsons that was going to be on that night.

"_Guys_! I have something important to tell you!"

"Then spit it out, genius."

"I kissed a girl."

"Your mom doesn't count, Reid, or any of your aunts, or cousins."

"I know that, _stupid_. I kissed Amy. On the lips. For like a whole ten seconds."

"You're bluffing," Pogue rolled his eyes.

"Definitely," Caleb agreed and crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't even like Amy."

"That's not what he to--" The rest of Tyler's sentence was muffled by Reid's hand on his mouth.

"That's not the point. The point is… I got my first kiss. Before all of you losers. Ha ha," Reid stuck his tongue out at Caleb; he was proud of doing something before his eldest brother.

"Whatever," Pogue rolled his eyes and steered the conversation back to the shows that were going to be on later.

A couple of hours later, Mrs. Garwin showed up and dragged Reid away by his ear. Apparently, he was supposed to be grounded.

Tyler was next to leave; his parents came and picked him up to get ready for the dinner party they had with his mom's family that night.

That left Caleb and Pogue alone on the porch. They stayed there, just talking and swinging on the porch swing, until Mrs. Danvers called them in for dinner (they both ran to the table when they found out it was macaroni and cheese).

After dinner, they played some video games, then they were ushered to shower, then shooed along off to bed, but with twelve years under their belt, 10:00 was way too early to be going to bed. They were left with nothing to do, though, because all the good shows were done, so they were stuck laying on Caleb's bed and staring up at the ceiling.

"So… you think Reid was lying?"

"I dunno," Pogue shrugged, "Probably."

"Really?" Caleb bit his lip and looked at Pogue.

"Yeah," Pogue shrugged again and met Caleb's eyes with his own, "Why?"

"'Cause…" The older boy shrugged in return and turned onto his side to face Pogue, "Just wonderin' is all."

"Oh." Pogue flipped onto his stomach and supported his head on his hand, "Sorta sucks if he's not, though. He got it before we did. That's not supposed to happen."

Caleb chuckled and adjusted the comforter around him, "It's not that important."

"It is _so_," Pogue pouted and glared a bit, "You're supposed to be first, and I'm supposed to be second, and he's supposed to be _third_, and Tyler's supposed to be last. It's always been like that."

Caleb rolled his eyes at that, "It's just a first kiss."

"So what? I want _mine_, and he got _his_, it's not fair. Don't you wanna kiss someone already too?"

"Doesn't matter," Caleb shrugged, "Doesn't bother me at all."

"You don't wanna know how it is at all?"

"Well _yeah_, but I don't care _when_ it happens. I have _patience_, unlike you."

"Yeah well… oh well. I want my first kiss and I want it _now_."

"Now?" Caleb chuckled, "Are you asking me to kiss you, Pogo?"

"_No_… but that's a good idea. Two birds with one stone or something like that, right?"

"Will you stop complaining if I do?"

"How come _you're_ kissing me? I wanna be the one doing the kissing."

Caleb rolled his eyes at that. "Fine, then _you _can kiss _me_ and then will you be quiet about it?"

"…okay."

Nervously, Pogue leaned forward and pressed his lips to Caleb's. It was sort of awkward for them both but Pogue didn't care; he just counted to eleven in his head (because that beat Reid's ten seconds) and pulled away.

Caleb let out an embarrassed chuckle and buried his bright red face in his pillow, which Pogue grinned at, because it was a feat to get the eldest of the Sons to blush and he just did.

"You know what the problem is now?" Caleb asked, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"What?"

With a laugh, Caleb turned his head to face Pogue, "I don't think we can go around telling everyone."

"…oh."

"Stupid."


	18. Tyler Walk

-1Tyler let out a soft baby grunt and grabbed onto the couch so he could pull himself up.

"Teddy, teddy," he squealed and reached for his bear, which was sitting in the corner of the couch, only to find that he couldn't get it.

"Hmph," Tyler pouted and tried doing that thing his parents had been trying teach him all this week.

One leg, other leg, one leg, other leg.

"OH MY GOD! RICH! GET THE CAMERA! TYTY'S WALKING!"

Mrs. Sims' abrupt exclamation startled Tyler and made him fall. He whimpered; the bear had been _so_ close and he had tried so hard and now his mom was yelling and Tyler didn't like it. He started crying and grabbing at the air because he wanted _up_… or his bear; either would do.

"Oh, no, no, no, Tyler, don't cry," Mrs. Sims soothed as she picked her son up, "It's okay, baby boy."

"Lily, you scared the boy," Mr. Sims scolded as he came into the living room, camera in tow.

"Oh hush, Richard, I was excited. Our baby's growing up," Mrs. Sims cooed and nuzzled her nose against Tyler's, making him giggle and cover his face with his hands.

Mr. Sims grinned and put the camera down. "Wanna come to daddy, baby boy?" he asked Tyler, holding his arms out to him.

"Dada!" Tyler squealed and threw himself out of his mother's arms and into his dad's. "Dada," he laughed and hit his palms against Mr. Sims' shoulders.

"You wanna walk for us again, Tyty?"

"Don't pressure him, Lily, he'll do it again on his own time."

"But I want to see it again."

Mr. Sims was pretty sure Tyler had inherited his trademark pout from his mother.

"Fine, fine," He sighed and set Tyler down, which earned him a confused look from the boy. "Your mother's impatient and she wants to see you walk again, Tyty. Do you want to walk again?"

"Waaaaah-kuh?" Tyler asked as he pulled himself up using his father's pant leg. "Waa-kuh. Walk."

"Good job, Tyler," Tyler's father grinned and petted his son's hair. "Do you want to walk?"

Tyler made a thoughtful sound and considered it; he was pretty sure he knew what this 'walk' thing was. His parents had been saying it for quite some time; in fact, he was pretty sure what he just did was considered a 'walk'.

"Walk," Tyler nodded and took a step towards his mother, who had grabbed the camera and started filming as soon as Tyler had tried to say walk. "Ty-lah waa-kuh," he giggled and took another step or two before falling and giggling some more.

"My baby boy's all grown up!" Mrs. Sims sobbed.

"…he only took two steps, dear."

"And soon he'll be running away to college and leaving us all alone!"

"You need help, honey."


	19. All Bully

-1Tyler sat on the basketball court with tears in his eyes, threatening to spill over, as Aaron and Ryan laughed in front of him.

"You're such a _baby_. Can't even take a push, you wimp," Aaron teased and Ryan laughed some more.

"Am _not_," Tyler glared, but the pout on his lips sort of took the effect away.

"Then why don't ya _fight_ us, huh, baby? Go ahead, punch me, I dare you," Ryan challenged smugly, then he was being turned around and met by Reid's face in his own.

"_I'll_ punch you." And he did, right in the stomach. Ryan doubled over and Reid kept hitting him; he was on a roll, he couldn't stop now.

"Hey! Get off him, punk!" Aaron jumped into the fight but Pogue came jogging over and pushed him away.

Soon, all four boys were mauling each other on the floor; Tyler could only watch in amazed horror.

"Pogo! Reid! Stop it!" Caleb scolded as he jogged over from the bathroom. He couldn't leave for _two_ seconds without something happening, could he? "Tyler, help me out here," Caleb sighed as he tried to pry Aaron and Pogue apart.

Tyler shot him a 'are you _serious_?' look but Caleb's stern eyes made him get up and try to pull Reid off of Ryan.

With a little bit (a lot) of work, the four boys were separated. Reid was donning a bloody lip while Pogue had a bruise forming on his jaw, but Aaron and Ryan were just bruised and bleeding all over.

"You don't mess with Tyler, assholes," Reid warned, glaring at Aaron and Ryan. He would have gone after them again but Caleb's arms were holding him and Pogue back. Tyler decided that hiding behind all three boys was a good idea.

"Come see me, blondie," Aaron sneered, "I'll kick your ass."

"_We_ just kicked _both _of yours, stupid," Pogue shot back, pushing against Caleb's arms.

"Lucky shots," Ryan rolled his eyes, "Come see us, go ahead, we'll get you next time."

"There's not gunna _be_ a next time," Caleb warned and started pushing Pogue and Reid away from the basketball courts.

When they were at the playground, Caleb finally let Pogue and Reid go play on the play gym but sat Tyler down on a bench.

"Are you okay, baby boy?"

"Don't call me that," Tyler objected and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not a baby."

"Okay okay," Caleb put his hands up in surrender, "Are you okay, Tyler?"

"I'm fine," Tyler shrugged and looked down at his swinging legs.

"Are you su--"

"Guys, c'mon, Pogue's it!" Reid ran by laughing, followed by Pogue chasing him.

Caleb grinned and pulled Tyler up, "You're sure?"

"Yeah," Tyler nodded.

"Alright, then _run_, Pogue's coming," he laughed and pulled Tyler with him as he ran away.


	20. RT Sand

"Cabe's stoopy," A young Reid Garwin grumbled as he kicked the dirt. Because of Caleb, he was stuck on his porch, watching the other boys play. He had only made Tyler fall by _accident_. It's not like he just flat out pushed the kid! But, no, Caleb had to be all righteous and tell Mrs. Garwin that Tyler had scraped his knee and it was Reid's fault.

What a great friend _he _was.

Reid kept grumbling to himself and glaring at the floor. It wasn't _fair_. He _always_ got in trouble and he never really did anything… he just had bad luck or something. He didn't appreciate always being called out on said bad luck.

"I sorry," Tyler's soft, innocent voice cut through Reid's inner ramblings and made him look up to see the younger boy in front of him.

"S'okay," Reid shrugged and looked back down at the ground. He saw Tyler's bandaged knee and felt a little bad for having caused it. "Aw you okay?" Reid asked in his not yet perfected English.

"Mhm," Tyler nodded and took a seat next to Reid on the stairs. "Here," he said as he let a handful of sand fall to the stairs, making a pile. "Play wit' me?"

Reid grinned and moved down a step to play with Tyler. It was only a handful of sand, but at least he wasn't stuck alone anymore.

* * *

**I bet you guys thought I died!! haha, well.. I guess I did... for a bit... hehe, sorry!!! I just... lost my muse and my inspiration and... stuff lol but that's okay, it seems to be coming back.. I hope, or this is like just a false hope.**

**In that case, I'm sorry D:**

**I'm going to try to write more but I'm not making any guarantees, k? k. :)  
**


	21. AR Friend

**Surprise! Another update aaaand...**

**Nice!kid!Aaron whoo!**

**

* * *

  
**

"Hi," A brown haired boy said with a smile. Tyler looked at him, puzzled as to who he was, but just smiled back.

"Hi."

"My name's Aaron. Can I play with you?" The boy, Aaron, asked as he stepped into the sandbox and took a seat across from Tyler and his toys.

"Okay, I'm Tyler," Tyler grinned and pushed a shovel and bucket toward Aaron. "I was looking for treasure."

"Really?" Aaron asked, his eyes lighting up. "Did you find any?"

"Not yet," Tyler shook his head and frowned down at the sand, "But I'm sure it's here. I gots this map and it says it's here." He pulled out a crumpled up paper with a scribbled map on it and showed Aaron.

"Ohh," Aaron murmured as he looked over the map. "Let's find it then!"

Tyler grinned and started digging again, Aaron joining him.

They had only been digging for a couple of minutes when Reid came running and grabbed Tyler's arm to pull him up. "Ew Ty! You're playing with _Aaron_!"

"Yeah! How'd you know?" Tyler asked and tried to shake his arm free of Reid's grip. "He's my new friend."

"He's a loser!"

"Am not!" Aaron objected and got up, his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at Reid.

"Are too! You _cried_ at school just 'cause your mommy left! Loser!"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"No way, you shut up!"

Before Tyler knew what was going on, the two boys were tackling each other into the sand and fighting. He didn't know what to do so he just slowly stepped away (he didn't want to get caught up in that…) Luckily, Caleb was nearby and saw what was going on. He had ran to Mr. Sims and told him. Mr. Sims rushed over and separated the two, scolding a still fighting Reid.

"I'm sorry," He told Aaron and helped him up. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, thank you," Aaron grunted and brushed himself off.

"Reid," Mr. Sims said in a warning tone, "Say you're sorry."

"Your mom!"

"Reid!"

Reid just huffed and crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. He was _not _apologizing.

"We're leaving if you don't say sorry," Mr. Sims threatened but Reid didn't budge. With a sigh, Mr. Sims picked Tyler up and held onto Reid's hand as he called Pogue and Caleb to follow.

Tyler looked over his father's shoulder to Aaron sit down in the sandbox, looking pitiful as he played by himself.

"Bye, Aaron," He said softly and waved at the boy.


End file.
